Cities like Fort Worth need help making streets safer. This bill is a must | Opinion

As Fort Worth continues to grow, so does the need to ensure our neighborhoods remain safe, livable, and connected.

Our streets aren’t just corridors for moving cars — they’re the public spaces that frame our homes, our parks, our schools and our lives. Every child who rides a bike to a friend’s house, every older adult crossing the street and every neighbor walking a dog deserves to feel safe.

But too many of our residential streets are still designed for speed, not safety. And far too often, we’re seeing the tragic consequences. In Fort Worth and across Texas, serious traffic crashes, including those involving pedestrians and cyclists, remain all too common.

This isn’t just a Fort Worth problem. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, 11 people die every day in crashes on our state’s roads. That includes people driving, walking, biking and using personal mobility devices. It includes Texans of all ages and from all walks of life.

We can do better — and we know how.

As a former City Council member and current executive director of Community Design Fort Worth, I’ve spent years working on transportation, planning and public space issues. During my time in office, I advocated for reducing speed limits on neighborhood streets from 30 mph to 25 mph, a modest but meaningful step to improve safety. Our city wanted to respond to residents who were asking for safer streets where they live, but the barriers in state law made it costly and complicated to take action.

Under current Texas law, cities such as Fort Worth can reduce the speed limit below 30 mph only if they install signage on every block and conduct expensive traffic studies — even on quiet residential streets where everyone agrees that slower speeds are appropriate. The cost to do this citywide can be staggering. That’s why the City Council ultimately paused the effort back in 2015, despite broad community support and a clear desire to improve safety.

Here’s the good news: A measure in the Texas Legislature, slated for consideration May 8 in the House Transportation Committee, would fix this outdated law and give cities more flexibility to make neighborhood streets safer.

House Bill 5253, known as the Safe Neighborhood Streets bill, would allow cities to set 20 or 25 mph speed limits on two-lane, undivided residential streets — the kinds of streets where families live, children play and neighbors walk. It’s important to note that counties already can do this for neighborhoods in unincorporated areas. This bill would simply level the playing field for cities and remove unnecessary red tape.

Even small reductions in speed can have a major impact on safety. If a driver hits a pedestrian while going 20 mph, the pedestrian has about a 95% chance of surviving. At 30 mph, that chance drops to 60%. At 40 mph, it’s just 10%. We can and should design our neighborhood streets with these realities in mind.

“This is a kitchen table issue. Texans want drivers to slow down in their neighborhoods,” said Representative Rafael Anchía, the Dallas Democrat who authored HB5253. “Folks should feel safe walking, riding bikes or playing without fear of cars speeding down the block. This bill helps prevent tragedies and puts safety first in the places we call home.”

This is not about pitting drivers against cyclists or pedestrians. Most of us are in each of those roles at different points in our lives. It’s about designing streets that work for everyone, streets that reflect the values of the communities they serve.

The Safe Neighborhood Streets bill is a bipartisan, commonsense step toward giving governments the tools they need to save lives. It respects local decision-making while aligning with our state’s broader commitment to reducing traffic fatalities. The Texas Transportation Commission has adopted a Road to Zero goal: to cut roadway deaths in half by 2035 and reach zero by 2050. This bill helps move us in that direction.

I’ve seen firsthand how passionate Fort Worth residents are about the places they live and how deeply they care about the safety of their neighborhoods. This bill would empower our city and others across Texas to take reasonable, responsible steps to respond to that public concern and create streets that truly reflect our values.

The legislative session runs through early June. I encourage everyone who wants safer streets — whether for your children, your neighbors, or yourself — to contact your state legislators and ask them to support good safety bills like HB 5253. You can send a message quickly and easily through a letter-writing campaign at visionzerotexas.org.

Together, we can make Fort Worth and all of Texas safer, one neighborhood street at a time.